Rock City finally sold out with over two thousand people in attendance for this Slayer and The Haunted tour. Originally set to take place at the end of last year, this tour had been set back by illness - but it was clear from the unprecedented queues and amounts of people that tonight was something a lot of people had been waiting for.

Over from Sweden, The Haunted were the band to kick things into motion. The set started off in a fantastic way with the frantic "Bury Your Dead" and "99", but the momentum couldn't be kept throughout the whole show. The band were playing to a busy room of people thirsty for thrash metal, and although there was some amount of movement in the space in front of the stage - the main hall stood seemingly unamused.

There's no getting away from the fact that The Haunted have changed over the years towards hardcore or metalcore elements, and this was evident in the setlist with a few songs from the newer albums such as "The Flood" and "Moronic Colossus". Both fans of the new and old could find something to enjoy however, with neither particularly dominating the setlist in favour of a mix from all albums. The band certainly had their moments, especially with the crushing march of "D.O.A.".

Peter seemed to be a little resigned and cautious, and still had someone in the audience throw a couple of drinks at him. He did however seem keen to throw the "Dio-horns" in honour of the fallen, and the audience of course reciprocated each time. They didn't have an easy audience by any means, but the band fought their way through and delivered an enjoyable set. The last song could have been something a little more definitive and assertive, but the band's forty-minute set had to come to a close at some point.

Slayer also performed this evening, but their management preferred if I didn't bother with them.

An interview with Peter Dolving conducted after the show can be found at this location.

I'd only heard a few songs by The Haunted before last night and wasn't very impressed, but they were better last night than I thought they would be. I agree that their decision to end with a slow song was a bit odd.

My third time seeing Slayer and this was easily the best of the three. Much better suited to a venue like that than arenas. Tom's voice is sounding good again as well.

Baz, I noticed that after a few minutes of you being in the area to take photos before Slayer came on that a security (or something similar) guy spoke to you, after which you didn't seem to come back. What was that all about, or would you rather not say?

Baz, I noticed that after a few minutes of you being in the area to take photos before Slayer came on that a security (or something similar) guy spoke to you, after which you didn't seem to come back. What was that all about, or would you rather not say?

Basically, their manager just didn't want me taking pictures of them. I was on Century Media's guestlist, and even though I had exactly the same photo-pass as the other photographers, he decided to pull me out.

I was going to go to the Slayer/Haunted show, but my cat had just died, and I didnt really feel up to going when I felt so bad.

I will take a look at the interview now. xD The Haunted pics are awesome, its a shame you were stopped from taking pics of Slayer....if you had a photo pass, I dunno why you were removed from the area.

I'd only heard a few songs by The Haunted before last night and wasn't very impressed, but they were better last night than I thought they would be. I agree that their decision to end with a slow song was a bit odd.

My third time seeing Slayer and this was easily the best of the three. Much better suited to a venue like that than arenas. Tom's voice is sounding good again as well.

Baz, I noticed that after a few minutes of you being in the area to take photos before Slayer came on that a security (or something similar) guy spoke to you, after which you didn't seem to come back. What was that all about, or would you rather not say?

Yeah actually I fully agree on the Slayer paragraph as it were my 3rd time.... And how Barry gets all of these passes to see all of those artists up close just puzzles me....

In fact to top it all off out of fucking nowhere, as I was leaving out with with my mate I actually saw and shook hands with Danny and Shane from Napalm Death!